Lift trucks and other article-handling vehicles usually require that an operator turn the vehicle and control its translation over the supporting surface at the same time that he is manipulating the article-handling forks or implement. Since the steering of the vehicle and the manipulation of the article-handling means is normally controlled by the operator's hands, it is necessary that means controllable by his feet are operative to control the direction and speed of the vehicle. It is also desirable that the operator be able to control as many of these functions as possible with one foot.
Numerous control systems have been proposed for such vehicles. However, such systems have failed to provide an optimum combination to provide the desired functional convenience.